


Braces

by teej_318



Series: Byler and Reddie Oneshots [5]
Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Boys Hugging, Boys In Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Richie has braces, Richie just needs a hug, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak, Soft Richie Tozier, body image issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:57:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teej_318/pseuds/teej_318
Summary: When Richie gets braces, he refuses to talk normally, to smile with his teeth or to laugh at all. It worries his friends, but in particular, Eddie.





	Braces

Richie startled when he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders. He whipped around, his backpack sliding partway into his locker. Eddie was standing behind him with an amused expression on his face. Richie grinned at him without revealing his new look.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Eddie asked as Richie pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"'m fine, Eds," Richie replied, barely opening his mouth.

"Well let's see your new look!"

"Later, Eds," Richie said quietly, still not completely opening his mouth. "I don't wanna have to keep showing it off to everyone. Can we just wait a day or two?"

Eddie scoffed.

"I mean, I guess so, Richie, but you're gonna have those braces on for two years, so it's gonna be hard for people not to notice."

"Ugh, don't remind me." 

Richie closed his locker door and followed Eddie to the rest of The Losers, who had gathered at Bill's locker.

"Hey, let's see the new look!" Mike exclaimed.

"Yeah, show us your new smile!" added Bev.

Richie kept his mouth shut and just grinned stupidly at his friends.

"Come on, Richie, let's see it," Ben begged.

"Y-y-yeah you prob-probably don't look that d-d-d-different," said Bill.

Richie shrugged.

"Richie, you know we're not gonna judge you, right?" Bev asked.

"I might," said Stan. Richie grinned at him, but kept his mouth shut. "Wow, no comeback, Richie? You must really not want us to see your braces, huh?"

Richie nodded.

"That's right," he said, barely moving his lips.

"What was that?" Stan asked. "I could barely understand you."

"Hey, leave him alone, Stan," Ben said. "Richie doesn't have to show us his braces until he wants to."

"Besides, he's stuck with them for a while, so he'll have to show us eventually!" Bev exclaimed. 

Richie rolled his eyes, but nodded at his friends.

And so it continued for the rest of the day. Richie refused to speak more than a few words at a time and he never opened his mouth all the way. He also hardly smiled throughout the day, instead grinning with his lips closed. He certainly didn't laugh, either. And at lunch, he tried to hide his face while he was eating. It was as if a switch had been turned off in him. It was worrying all of his friends, but none more than Eddie.

Shortly after getting home, Eddie decided to go and visit Richie once he was done with his homework. He suffered through writing his English essay and answering textbook questions for his history class before he decided to call it quits and go see what was going on with Richie. Eddie hurried down the stairs and had his hand on the doorknob when his mother called out to him.

"Eddie bear, where are you going?" Sonia asked.

Eddie grimaced when he heard her voice.

"I'm going out for a bit, Mom," he replied, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. "I'm just gonna go see a friend."

"What about your homework? And what about your dinner? You must be starving, Eddie."

"I'm okay, Mom. I had a big lunch. Besides, I'm all done with my homework. If I get hungry, I'll come home and get a bite to eat, all right?"

"Eddie bear, I don't like you going out on an empty stomach."

"Bye, Mom," Eddie said loudly as he opened the door and hurried through it before his mother could say anything else. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He knew he was going to have to pay for walking out like that, but he didn't care. His primary concern was Richie. 

Eddie grabbed his bike and started pedaling to Richie's house. They lived rather close to each other and he knew the route by heart; he had been taking it to go visit Richie ever since they were little kids. The journey seemed to take longer because of how worried Eddie was for Richie, but he finally got to Richie's house.

Eddie knocked on the front door and waited impatiently for someone to answer. Soon, Richie's mother appeared in the doorway and opened the door.

"Hi there, Eddie," she said warmly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, Mrs. Tozier," Eddie replied, giving her a smile. "I was hoping I could see Richie if he's not still doing his homework."

"Well, he might not be done, but a visit from a friend couldn't hurt. Come on in."

Maggie showed Eddie inside and Eddie hurried in, wiping his shoes on the mat for several seconds before he followed Maggie into the living room.

"How's he doing?" Eddie asked.

"What do you mean, Eddie?"

"Richie. Is he doing okay?"

"Why? Did something happen at school today? Were those boys picking on him again?"

"No, no, nothing like that. He just seemed really quiet at school today, which isn't like him at all," Eddie said hurriedly. 

Maggie frowned at him.

"He seemed totally normal when he came home. Maybe he was just tired today."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah that's probably it. I'll go up and see him. Thanks for letting me come by, Mrs. Tozier."

"You're always welcome in this home, Eddie dear. And for heaven's sake, call me Maggie!"

Eddie just grinned as he turned and walked up the stairs. He was drawn to Richie's room like a magnet and reached it in seconds when he got to the top floor. Eddie took a breath before he knocked softly on Richie's bedroom door. 

"Richie, it's Eddie, can I come in?"

"Sure, Eds," Richie replied in his usual tone of voice.

Eddie's mood lifted a bit when he heard Richie speak. Maybe it was a sign that he was okay. Eddie opened the door and walked into Richie's room. Richie didn't keep his room nice and meticulate the way Eddie did, but Eddie didn't mind. In fact, he wished he could be more like Richie in this sense; a little organized chaos would be a nice change of pace.

Richie was sitting on his bed reading a comic book. Eddie sat down next to him. Once on the bed, Richie finally looked up and grinned at Eddie, but his lips were still closed. Eddie had to suppress a sigh of exasperation.

"What's up, Eddie Spaghetti?" Richie asked, barely moving his lips just like he had throughout the day.

"I'm just checking up on you, Rich. Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine, Eds. Everything is A-ok."

"Then why didn't you laugh at all today?" Eddie asked. Richie froze. "Why didn't you smile normally at anything? Why weren't you cracking jokes at every opportunity even though they drive me crazy? What is going on, Richie? Are you okay?"

Richie sighed as he threw the comic book to the side. He sat up and looked directly into Eddie's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Eds," Richie said quietly, still not moving his lips. "I just don't want you to see."

"See what?"

"How much uglier I am now."

Eddie's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you talking about, 'Chee?"

"I look like total shit now, Eds. I mean, hell, I wasn't much to look at before, but these braces just made me even uglier. I don't want anyone else to have to see that."

Eddie was sure he could feel his heart breaking as Richie said all of that. He just wanted to hold his best friend in his arms and take those negative thoughts out of him. Instead, he grabbed onto one of Richie's wrists.

"Oh, Richie, please don't talk about yourself like that," he said softly.

"Why not? It's the truth! Richie Tozier is a hideous, ugly beast. I'm the only one who has to see that, Eddie. You and the rest of The Losers don't have to."

"Richie, please," Eddie begged, grabbing onto Richie's other wrist. "Stop talking about yourself like that. You're not ugly, Richie."

Richie scoffed.

"You're just saying that because I'm your best friend, Eds. But it's okay, you don't have to mean it."

"But I do mean it, Richie --"

"Please, stop humoring me, Eds."

"I'm not--"

"Why can't you just let me be ugly in peace?"

"BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, ALL RIGHT?" Eddie shouted. His eyes widened again when he realized how loudly he had just talked, but it was nowhere near as shocked as Richie looked.

"What are you talking about, Eddie?" Richie asked, frowning at Eddie.

"I think you're beautiful, Richie," Eddie said. Richie rolled his eyes and Eddie tightened his grip on Richie's wrist. "Hey, I mean it."

"Why? I'm so horrifyingly ugly, Eddie. There are a whole lot more people better looking than me."

"Not to me and if you don't stop talking about yourself like that, I'm gonna give you a black eye."

Richie smiled, parting his lips ever so slightly, but not enough for Eddie's liking.

"Eddie, you're on fire tonight."

"Shut up and just let me talk to you for a second," Eddie commanded. Richie nodded. "Now listen to me, Richie. You are beautiful. I don't care if your glasses make your eyes look bigger or that your hair kinda gets all over the place or anything else you think is wrong with you. Those things you tell yourself are flaws aren’t flaws, Rich. They are the things that make you who you are." 

Richie frowned slightly, but he seemed to be taking in Eddie's words. 

"And I promise you the rest of The Losers don't think you're ugly, Richie," Eddie said. "That's just a nasty voice in your head telling you that, Richie, but it's not true. You are a beautiful person, Richie, inside and out. I've always loved that about you. And you know what your favorite part about you is, besides you being my best friend?"

Richie shook his head.

"It's your smile," Eddie said as he gave Richie a smile of his own. "I've always loved your smile, Richie. You always light up the room whenever you smile and when I see you smile, I want to smile, too. I love your smile so much, Richie."

"Wow, I didn't think anyone did," Richie said quietly.

"It's my favorite thing to see you do," Eddie said. "And I'd really like to see it. Can you do that for me, Richie? Ignore that bad voice in your head and remember that you are beautiful. Can you smile for me, Richie?"

Richie hesitated before his mouth twitched and it grew into a large smile. Eddie felt his heart melt at seeing Richie's full smile again. The braces had a tint of green in them and it suited Richie, Eddie thought. Eddie beamed at Richie.

"Oh, Richie," Eddie said. "It's so beautiful. Your smile is so beautiful.  _ You _ are so beautiful."

Eddie leaned forward and pulled Richie into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Richie. Richie was taken aback by this, but wrapped his arms around Eddie, too. Richie could feel tears prickling in his eyes, but they were the good kind. He had never felt this way about himself before and it was all thanks to Eddie.

"Thank you so much, Eds," Richie whispered into Eddie's shoulder. 

"Of course, Richie. I missed your smile today. I missed  _ you _ today. You never have to hide yourself from me or the rest of The Losers, okay?"

Richie nodded as he melted even more into Eddie's embrace.

"I love you, Eddie Spaghetti."

"I love you, too, 'Chee."

**Author's Note:**

> These boys are so soft and pure. Protect them!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr: @wackywriterwhowriteswhenever


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